“ Seven of our players have been offered contracts through us and we will be happy if all of them join the IPL which is the legal competition compared to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is not a ICC approved event “, he told newsmen at a press conference.

Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Muhammad Asif, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Muhammad Yousaf and Inzamam ul Haq have been offered contracts which PCB has received and hopefully all the players will be signing them ,he added.

“The offer shows that there is a big demand of Pakistani players in the league and we are delighted that our seven players have been offered contracts “,he said.

Chairman said PCB has a clear policy on ICL and players joining it will not be considered for selection at home.Answering a question, he said, it was up to the players whether to join the approved IPL because PCB cannot force them to do so.

“ Players are free to make the decision but in my opinion they must avail this opportunity which carries huge financial attraction “,he said.

Nasin Ashraf said PCB tried to convince opener Imran Farhat and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq to re-consider their decisions of joining the breakaway ICL but both the playres did not pay attention to PCB request.

“ I even spoke twice to Imran to withdraw from ICL and I also assured him that he will be considered for test series against South Africa but he stuck to his earlier decision of remaining with ICL “,he said adding “ Razzaq chose amateur way to announce joining the league and even gave negative statements against the PCB “.

He said Razzaq’s performance in the last 15 one day matches was not good but PCB was even considering him for future selection.He said PCB has still the same stance that controversial umpire Darrell Hair is not fit to officiate in elite cricket events.

“ We believe that ICC has taken a wise decision to put him on rehabilitation before deciding his fate as umpire in near future”, said Nasim Ashraf who has recently returned from England where he attended a meeting of ICC Board as a member.He said after completion of rehabilitation process ICC will decide whether to allow the umpire to resume his career.

“ Our complaint was on the basis that Hair as an umpire failed. His judgement was wrong that day and his behaviour has to be rectified. For that he is undergoing rehabilitation and that is a positive step.”

Answering a question, he said ,PCB has asked the ICC to look into derogatory comments allegedly made by Rudi Koertzen about the Pakistan team. During the Central Employment Tribunal’s hearing into Darrell Hair’s case against the ICC last week, Hair had described a phone call in which Koertzen, the South African umpire, had referred to the Pakistan team as cheats.